A year ago I answered a call from the Portland City Club to research bicycle transportation policy in the city of Portland. This was a perilous assignment, since I am not an avid bicyclist nor an expert of transportation policy. I am, however, an experienced researcher, and I was interested how close the facts of bicycling matched the speeches from City Hall.

Our research, recently reported, indicates that bicycling has indeed reached the mainstream, with 11 percent of Portland's workers in the central core commuting -- primarily from near-in Southeast -- with the largest single route crossing the Hawthorne Bridge at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Not surprisingly, ridership drops sharply during the winter and on weekends.

We were surprised to see that the Hawthorne Bridge ridership has plateaued in recent years. This analysis mirrors the work by Portland Bureau of Transportation's bicycling expert, Roger Geller, which indicates that bicycle infrastructure improvements will be required to expand bicycle commuting in Southeast Portland.

Geller focuses on creating a low-stress environment for riders. Our research approached this from the consumers' point of view: Which type of infrastructure actually seems to attract bicyclists? The two approaches agree that safety -- and, just as important, the perception of safety -- is the critical factor in bicycle commuting.

One only needs to enter downtown at the west end of the Hawthorne Bridge to see the problem. Streams of cars are entering downtown while bicyclists are crossing the stream into the center of the street from the bridge and contending with both cars and buses turning right across their path. Some bicyclists move to the sidewalk to avoid the tangle, thus bringing pedestrians into the fray.

This brings us to safety. The City Club committee debated whether adult safety education would help. The minority supported adopting the approach the state of Oregon uses for all-terrain vehicles -- an Internet-based, mandatory safety education course. The majority disagreed because it believes that it would be unworkable and unenforceable and also might impede the growth of bicycling. The minority also supported registering bicycles to discourage theft and allow recovery of stolen bicycles. The majority disagreed with mandatory registration.

In a June 4 story, The Oregonian's own bicycling expert, Joseph Rose, quoted a study that found "though only 1 percent of trips in the U.S. are made by bicycle, 2 percent of all traffic fatalities are those of bicyclists." We can assure healthier outcomes by separating cars and bicyclists whenever possible. We can also create a safer environment by educating both car drivers and bicyclists on the rules of the road.

It is important to remember that while a "minor" collision requires a trip to the garage for the motorist, it can mean a trip to the emergency room for the bicyclist. We really do want to bring everyone home alive.

Robert McCullough is a Portland-based energy consultant. Byron Palmer, also a member of the City Club committee and a serious bike commuter, contributed to this commentary. They represent the minority viewpoint of the committee.